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Feeding for comfort?

When breastfeeding your baby (according to health professionals) it is good in every situation as it is a comfort for the baby to deal with growth changes teeth coming, new situations etc. However when bottle feeding it shouldn't be used for comfort as bad for teeth and teaches child that food is comfort and thus leads to obesity. How is that? I really don't want to overfeed my baby and don't want her to become obese what should I do? I never give her the bottle to drink it herself I always cuddle her when feeding and she loves watching me so I assume it is some degree of comfort.

Not entirely sure what you are asking here Rianon. It's true that a crying breastfed baby is easy to comfort even when you don't know why they are crying. Just shove a boob in their mouth and you usually get instant quiet child. However a baby can regulate the flow of milk from a breast and therefore not over feed. There is something called comfort sucking which a lot of babies do which is not that efficient at getting milk out of a breast but provides all the other things babies love like a cuddle with mum and sin to skin contact. A teat on a feeding bottle delivers milk at a steady flow so if you give them a bottle when they are not hungry they will get more milk than they need and more than likely throw it straight back up again! That's essentially the difference.

Thanks that's quite helpful I think you answered the question quite well even not knowing what it was :-)

My worry was that I might be overfeeding my baby as she always seem to be hungry! However I am now more relaxed that most probably that is not the case. She never throws up and is actually taking different time to make similar amount of milk disappear from her bottle and often leaves leftovers.

"A teat on a feeding bottle delivers milk at a steady flow" - not sure about that as it takes different time for similar amounts to disappear from the bottle (with slow teat) any experience of other mums about this? Liquid does not actually flow out from the bottle I use if I just turn it downwards.

Hello,
My HV said that if you feed on demand as you would breastfeeding then you cant really over feed. As Mrs J said, they regulate their own hunger. A baby will really only suck a bottle if they're hungry as it's not comforting sucking a bottle as Mu as it is mummy.

The teat thing. When a baby sucks a teat there ist really that much work involved. It flows far easier than from a breast. They're not designed to just pour out because you may choke the baby or put too much in their mouth for them to handle, when they suck it flows freely.

If your baby is hungry they are probably just hungry. They have regular growth spurts where they will feed more and they will take more milk.

If you are feeding on demand and baby is happy then I wouldn't worry about it.

My baby was bottle fed and I just fed whenever she asked for it with her hungry cry. I never planned when to feed her as I also like you didn't want to over feed but because babies are self regulating she sort of decided herself when she wanted feeding and got into her own routine.

Thanks for your reply. I know that you are BLW-ing. Did Olivia at first have more milk per day than is the recommended amount while weaning? My daughter is definitely taking more milk (and I suppose less solids in the meantime) but she just a week or so ago seem to have started to decrease her milk intake. I tried to decrease it myself "artificially" but that didn't work she is very determined about her food bless her :-)

She is 8 month old and it seems she has always been hungrier than your little one :-) She started off with around 35-40 oz per day at 6 and half month old and gradually decreased it to around 25-30 oz. I suppose it also depends on their size. She was born average but then she once dropped to the 25th percentile, came back to the 50th and went on to move to the 75th. The health visitor says its ok I should only worry if she climbs several lines at once. But then it is my responibility as her parents to make sure she won't have a problem for life!!! (I have a friend who have serious eye problems which could have been cured easily as a child but would now require laser surgery - so I am really trying to keep an open eye for those little things which can be easily corrected / avoided at a young age).

I am doing a mixed approach of BLW and spoon feeding but even with spoon feeding I usually let her feed herself so I have no ways of telling how much she is eating. Another thing is that I am sometimes giving her expressed breast milk but that milk was expressed 4-5 month in the mornings. So not so full in fat - and designed for a younger baby.

I wouldn't get to worried about centile charts. Otylia was born on 25th centile, droped to just over the 9th and after a few weeks was up to 91st and has gone over and has stayed there. All babies are different.

Whilst they are weaning they should be on or around 20oz milk per day I think.

Providing you're letting her eat when she's hungry and not forcing milk/food in her she will regulate herself.

The 4 bottles were how she regulated herself.

I wouldn't worry about over feeding. When she's had enough she'll stop eating. Providing you are trying to instil good eating habits and not just junk and teaching her about different foods I really wouldn't worry about it.